1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to printers and, more particularly, to a printer pen carriage support.
2. Related Art
Printers employing a pen carriage (also commonly referred to as a print cartridge or a pen assembly) are well known in the art. The pen carriage typically travels along a guide rod, generally perpendicular to the direction of travel of a print media, and dispenses ink onto the surface of the print media to generate a desired printed image.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,270 to Merrill discloses in FIG. 1 (reproduced herein as FIG. 1 for convenience) an ink jet printer 10 having a print head carriage 20 that reciprocates along a scan axis 22 on a guide rod 24. The typical guide rod has several drawbacks, such as its relative cost and degree of difficulty in securely attaching its ends to printer chassis supports and precisely aligning within the print mechanism (e.g., guide rod alignment relative to the paper path).
The guide rod must also be designed to be very rigid to provide adequate support for the pen carriage and precisely positioned to provide mechanical alignment between the pen carriage and the print media. Often, multiple guide rods or a guide rod and an additional guide are provided. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,572 to Kumar et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses in FIG. 2 (reproduced herein as FIG. 2) dual support and guide rails 32, 34 for supporting and guiding carriage assembly 20. Alternatively, U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,524 to Nicoloff, Jr. et al. discloses in FIG. 2 (reproduced herein as FIG. 3) a slide rod 36 along with a support bumper 30 which rides along a guide 32 for supporting and guiding carriage 20. Multiple guide rods or a guide rod and additional supports have the same drawbacks as noted above for the single guide rod, but to a greater degree. Furthermore, multiple guide rods or supports for the pen assembly add to the design and manufacturing cost and complexity. As a result, there is a need for an improved pen assembly support.
A printer pen carriage support is disclosed herein. The printer pen carriage support, in accordance with some embodiments, includes a cantilever that fits within a groove of a pen carriage. The cantilever provides the primary support for the pen carriage as it travels along the printer pen carriage support.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a printer includes a housing, a pen carriage that transports a pen for dispensing a substance onto a sheet of a print media transported near the pen carriage, and a pen carriage support coupled to the housing and which is coupled to and supports the pen carriage by providing a cantilever which fits within a groove of the pen carriage.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a pen carriage assembly includes a pen carriage for transporting a pen to dispense a substance, the pen carriage having a groove along a first side, and a pen carriage support having a cantilever which fits within the groove of the pen carriage and which supports the pen carriage.